Scopes for rimfire hunting rifles

Scopes optimised for use with .22LR and 17HMR seem to be a neglected market segment.

Shooting with these weapons typically involves:
Small targets eg rabbit head
Close ranges with wide multiples variation eg 5 to 50m
Deliberate shooting (not snap shots at a big target).
Low recoil, low waterproofness and low ruggedness required.

Proposed required features:
4-12 power (or higher for 17HMR)
40 - 44mm Enough light gathering for dusk, adequate exit pupil at higher powers but enabling a low mount to bore line as many shots are taken short of the zero, where shot is well below sight line and every centimetre can mean a miss.
Parallax (focus) adjustment down to 20m

Desirable features:
Focus to 5 or 10m
Springer airgun rating
FFP with mildot or else dialable with a simple duplex-like reticle
Similar configuration to your centerfire scope

So, there are not many special purpose rimfire scopes on offer. Leupold and Bushnell make them but not in the highest specification classes.
Some high prestige brands do have models designed for long range and tactical use, which focus down to 25m. A couple focus even closer but they are becoming very big scopes for hunting.
Then there are aspiring companies which are strong in the airgun market and have good close focus but perhaps optical performance, accuracy, dialing and durability expectations are not so rigorous there.

Here's a rough and ready table in no particular order showing what I could find last week:
http://i812.photobucket.com/albums/z...e%20scopes.jpg

Nikon and Weaver make a few rimfire models too. Maybe Burris too?

I had a dialable Bushnell. Problem I found was squinting at dials in the twilight/night. Adjusting dials for parallax, dialing up the elevation etc is all good during the day but a hassle at night. I found the short effective range of 22lr made it a waste of time and the daytime dialing buzz wore off too fast. Another bitch was the eyebox was too bulky and I had to get super high rings to run it with the JW15. Sold it and got a Nikon Prostaff 4-12 with a BDC150, It has enough hold over points to make dialing unnecessary at 22 ranges. Parralax set at 75 yards so oneless thing to peer at in low light with middle aged eyes too.
Got a 300 winmag to play dialing with now.

Vortex diamondback HP 3-12x40 dead hold ret ticks most of the boxes at a not to painfull price, hash marks up to 11 moa and 90 moa internal elevation for stretching the little .22 out a bit

Thanks for that suggestion about the diamondback. It does seem to tick the boxes. Have you seen one in use ? Any drawbacks ? As with Loopy and Bushys its not their top of the line grade is it ? There would be a place for a VX-3 or Z5 close focus model.

Among Bushnell, I couldn't find any with <50yd parallax. Haven't looked at Weaver yet.

I think this is right for .22 hunting; dialing isn't so useful. I don't do it on my airgun. You're too close to the animal to take on adjustments and squinting is definitely a problem.

Hmmm, interesting thread, Rossi 45 might be your man to talk to here on the forum as he seems to shoot some very respectable distances with a .22
Personally I don't bother any more with fancy recticles , I have a Burris 22lr scope with hash marks purposely designed for the 22.
I shoot around a brick a month and have just got to know my rifle and ammo very well, 130 mtrs with holdover is not super uncommon on rabbits now.
Depends how you approach the subject, I am moving and shooting the whole time, dial up would drive me nuts, I don't have the time or patience to fuck about.
I spot the rabbit , guess the range, institutionally do the hold over and shoot.
Success rate is pretty high, more I do and shoot the better I get.

I know you may not like to hear it, but one of the best rimfire scopes I have come across has these specs

3-9x42 or 4-12x42
Adjustable Objective from 0 metres to infinity.
Mil dot reticle
Designed for air guns so sturdily built and supported inside to handle the vibrations thrown its way...(Nothing I have ever seen handles the 1350fps springers, they savagely beat up even the best of scopes....)

Priced around the $200 mark and will stand by those dearer scopes.

Nikko Airking.By Nikko Stirling..And I have used one on my 22s for many many years and will continue to do so. They also make the Mount Master AO series at around the $150 but I prefer the finer cross hair on the Airking for the little bit more.

I have Hawke 6-24 & 8-32 sidewiders I bought for pre-charged air rifle. SR reticle. Used the 6-24 for .22 and has a nice thin reticle, I don't find too busy and has a reasonable app to apply dialing or hold-overs.
But find the Bushnell 2-7 AR rimfire good overall. side focus, bdc hold-overs for .22 subs and nice proportion for the size of rifle. Optics ok.

I have a sensible Vortex Diamondback HP 3-12x42. One of the best scopes on the market for the money. Bagheera you are aiming way too high in price for a rimfire scope and too big and bulky. These are rifles you are going to walk a long way with. The Diamondback has a reticle with holdover marks, Viper is right dialing a rimfire is an exercise in futility. Sighted in at 100m that's everything covered out to about 130m with a 17HMR. It has proved to a very robust and weather resistant scope. Only complaint the thread on the turrets is not the strongest you have to be careful not to strip them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by timattalon

Priced around the $200 mark and will stand by those dearer scopes.

Nikko Airking.By Nikko Stirling..

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I haven't used the airking, but I have a couple of the next model up Nikko Nighteater - 6x36 on a 22, and a 3-9x42 that I used on a 22mag for a while and now sits around as a spare.

They're solid reliable scopes and good value, but optically well behind the Nikon Prostaff Rimfire I also have - clarity etc is quite noticably better on the Nikon.

I use a Tasco 3-9 x 40 mil dot on my CZ. Once you sort your zero and shoot it at various ranges out to the distances you shoot its deadly. Mine is first dot hold for 75 metres, second dot hold for 100 metres. If you have a range finder and a steady rest it almost becomes hard to miss. Longest shot was a magpie at 150 metres with top of the head hold on the 4th dot and supersonic ammo. It should be noted that the bird landed on the 150 metre mound of the range I was shooting on and I was at the bench rest waiting to take a shot so it was the perfect condition shot on a windless day but nonetheless shows what can be done once you get a mil dot dialled in nicely.

You cannot have to much scope, just bought this for my 17hmr!Attachment 68299

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

Thanks for that suggestion about the diamondback. It does seem to tick the boxes. Have you seen one in use ? Any drawbacks ? As with Loopy and Bushys its not their top of the line grade is it ? There would be a place for a VX-3 or Z5 close focus model.

Among Bushnell, I couldn't find any with <50yd parallax. Haven't looked at Weaver yet.

I think this is right for .22 hunting; dialing isn't so useful. I don't do it on my airgun. You're too close to the animal to take on adjustments and squinting is definitely a problem.

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Nice scope and very good value. sort of lower end of the mid range @$650. Glass is good for the money around bushnell elite 4500 area (subjective) no tunneling, mounts well, the font on the dials is stupid small but like most I use the hold points for hunting and only dial for long range gongs. It will focus down to 25yds on 12x and 6-7 yds on 3 but paralex free is 30yds and out. Clicks are good, not nightforce but better feel and more audible than my Z5,. FOV is not outstanding but very useable.Its the best of the comprmises I could find, can shoot tree bears at 5yds, punch groups at 50/100yds and hit gongs at 300+ (38moa to get to my 265yr plate with subs.)
Attachment 68300

The best (most successful) rimfire scopes I have used are my Burris Fullfield 2 3-9x40 and Burris C4 3-9x40.
The FF2 has been used on my 17HMR and 22lr, and consistently had kills from 0-150m with both calibers.

My Burris C4 I have used a lot on my 22lr, and done a lot of shooting out too 200yards. The turrets and windplex reticle on the C4 has made for some very good long shots, (150yards+ with subsonic 22). but even the standard FF2 BDC when worked out accurately took out some bunnies at 120yard with the 22.

Gotta have an NF, just sighted this in, very nice!:cool:

Chris, I have a two month old Leupold VX-2 4-12x40 AO, duplex reticle that is a great rimfire scope. Bought it for metallic silhouette and have decided I needed more power for that so have replaced it with a Leupold FX-3 25x40.

You're welcome to have a look at it when we shoot the Delamore Cup, hopefully next month.

I went through a similar thought process a little while ago. In the end, I decided that any scope with AO would be fine for rimfire, assuming that the quality/other features were good enough. I bought the Leupold Rimfire EFR.

Fellas

This thread came up in a google search for “best rimfire scope” which was handy. Had a go at gongs today at double the distance I’ve ever shot .22LR (CCI subs) and was amazed how simple it was. 230m and 170m, CZ 455. Helps to have a good tutor eh.

So this brings me to scopes. Where I shoot bunnies, I have time to range and dial and am used to it with centrefire varminting. I hold over when I need to be quick, and use tactical reticles. That’s what I’m used too, I find reticles like the Vortex type EBR-2C mrad or Bushnell G2DMR much better for a big elevation hold with windage, compared to mildot. I also only use FFP for dialing scopes and got a lesson today in using SFP.

So now to the question. If I go with a new to me .22LR like the 455, the intention is to master the long range rimfire. I see since tis thread was started Vortex has released its Diamondback Tactical range with FFP. Anyone got one? Which one? Also keen to hear if any of you fellas have gone with similar scopes from other brands for longer range rimfire recently.

Attachment 99792

I have been using this https://www.swarovskioptik.com/hunting/x5i-c200507 and have yet to find anything I dont like about it

I should hope you haven’t at that kind of money @res...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

Fellas

This thread came up in a google search for “best rimfire scope” which was handy. Had a go at gongs today at double the distance I’ve ever shot .22LR (CCI subs) and was amazed how simple it was. 230m and 170m, CZ 455. Helps to have a good tutor eh.

So this brings me to scopes. Where I shoot bunnies, I have time to range and dial and am used to it with centrefire varminting. I hold over when I need to be quick, and use tactical reticles. That’s what I’m used too, I find reticles like the Vortex type EBR-2C mrad or Bushnell G2DMR much better for a big elevation hold with windage, compared to mildot. I also only use FFP for dialing scopes and got a lesson today in using SFP.

So now to the question. If I go with a new to me .22LR like the 455, the intention is to master the long range rimfire. I see since tis thread was started Vortex has released its Diamondback Tactical range with FFP. Anyone got one? Which one? Also keen to hear if any of you fellas have gone with similar scopes from other brands for longer range rimfire recently.

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Depends on how much you want to spend.

I've heard good things about the Nikon pro staff Rim fire

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I’ll spend more than I’ll tell the wife put it that way. The FFP Vortex scopes at $600ish are hard to ignore.

Always had the view that if you spend the same on scope as the rifle you’re in about the right place. So 6, 7, 8 hundred maybe.

There are some much cheaper and quite impressive options out there too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

I’ll spend more than I’ll tell the wife put it that way. The FFP Vortex scopes at $600ish are hard to ignore.

Always had the view that if you spend the same on scope as the rifle you’re in about the right place. So 6, 7, 8 hundred maybe.

There are some much cheaper and quite impressive options out there too.

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I am not much help I'm afraid. Never spent that much on a scope or rifle in one go so never looked.

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Bushnell RIMFIRE 3-9X40MM MULTI-X

Description:
Multi-X reticle
Side Focus Parallax
Specifications:
Finish: Matte
Power/Obj Lens: 3-9x 40mm
Lens Coating: Multi-Coated
RainGuard HD: No
Tube Diameter: 1in
Field of View: 3X - 31ft@100yds/10.5m@100m / 9X - 9.4ft@100yds/3.2m@100m
Weight: 20.4oz/580gr
Length: 12.2in/310mm
Eye Relief: 3.9in/100mm
Exit Pupil: 13mm@3x/4.4mm@9x
Click Value: .25in@100yds/7mm@100m
Adj Range: 80in@100yds/2mm@100m
Mounting Length: 4.8in/124mm
Focal Plane:Second

Bushnell RIMFIRE 6-18X40MM MULTI-X

Description:
Multi-X reticle
Side Focsu Parallax
Specifications:
Finish: Matte
Power/Obj Lens: 6-18x 40mm
Lens Coating: Multi-Coated
RainGuard HD: No
Tube Diameter: 1in
Field of View: 6X - 18ft@100yds/6m@100m / 18X - 5.5@100yds/1.8m@100m
Weight: 20.3oz/577gr
Length: 12.4in/315mm
Eye Relief: 3.9in/100mm
Exit Pupil: 6.6mm@6x/2.2mm@18x
Click Value: .25in@100yds/7mm@100m
Adj Range: 80in@100yds/2mm@100m
Mounting Length: 5in/127mm
Focal Plane: Second

On the right track @California, but wrong reticle, need to have ability to holdover precisely as well as dial.

Thanks for the suggestions fellas, I’ll have a bit of time on my hands soon so will search through all the brands and see what I can come up with in NZ. Haven’t really find anything that suits what I wanna do more than that Diamondback Tactical 4-16 so far.

im using a bushnell ar 22rimfire scope on one 22 and a sightron on the annie

After using many .22 LR rifles for over 50 years and having had many different scope configurations from junk, to Zeiss Diatal, I've finally settled on a Leupold FXII 6x34 to use on my Anschutz 54 (1422). It's not inexpensive at around $600 but is light and doesn't give any trouble. I changed the fixed parallax from 150m to 50m and can easily head shoot rabbits up to 100m or more with a rest, good ammo and reasonably calm conditions.

Gave up on the Xmas tree reticles and vari-power scopes and also the adjustable objective scopes. Too much weight and mucking around.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 10-Ring

Gave up on the Xmas tree reticles and vari-power scopes and also the adjustable objective scopes. Too much weight and mucking around.

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I hear what you’re saying. Thing is this new-to-us rifle I’m hoping to get will be used for double the range and more. Was using one yesterday to replicate what @rossi.45 was doing - 230m with subs. Was heaps easier than I ever imagined. But the amount of hold over at that range is quite something. So if I’m dialling I’m going to need plenty of elevation and if I hold I need a reticle that will give me the info.

I don’t much like big elevation holds where I can’t also hold for wind accurately on the same hash line.

But I do hear whay you’re saying, some of you fellas have lifetime’s more experience with the rimfire than me. I started with them obviously in the 80s but didn’t have one for probably over 20 years. Wasn’t much use for them where I was.

This might be worth considering, similar to the Vortex Diamondback Tactical but with illumination

Athlon Talos BTR 4-14x44 FFP
$789.99

Features:

Fully multicoated optics reduce reflected light and increase light transmission for bright, clear images
Heat treated, aircraft grade aluminium, one piece tube for extra strength and durability
Waterproof and fog proof thanks to Nitrogen purging
Shockproof mechanical system gives the ultimate recoil resistance to withstand 1000G recoil for 1000 times
Illuminated reticle with 11 brightness settings for greater visibility in low light
Etched glass reticle provides excellent backing support for complex reticle design and offers great durability and much higher shock resistance to recoil
First focal plain reticle changes size with your magnification
Side focus parallax

Specifications:

Magnification - 4-14x
Objective lens diameter - 44mm
Lens coating - Fully multicoated
Tube material - Aircraft grade aluminium
Tube diameter - 30mm
Exit pupil - 11.2-3.3mm Side Focus – 10 yards to infinity
Eye relief - 3.23-3.15 inches
Field of view @100 yards - 27.2-7.9 feet
Waterproof - Yes
Purging material - Nitrogen
Length - 12.9”
Weight - 669g / 23.6NZ
Click value - 0.1 MIL
Adjustment range per rotation - 5 MIL
Total elevation adjustment - 20 MIL
Total windage adjustment - 20 MIL
Turret style - Exposed
Parallax adjustment - Side focus – 10 yards to infinity

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 10-Ring

After using many .22 LR rifles for over 50 years and having had many different scope configurations from junk, to Zeiss Diatal, I've finally settled on a Leupold FXII 6x34 to use on my Anschutz 54 (1422). It's not inexpensive at around $600 but is light and doesn't give any trouble. I changed the fixed parallax from 150m to 50m and can easily head shoot rabbits up to 100m or more with a rest, good ammo and reasonably calm conditions.

Gave up on the Xmas tree reticles and vari-power scopes and also the adjustable objective scopes. Too much weight and mucking around.

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well i got this one really wrong . . when i read in the other thread that your getting .2MOA in your Annie 54 i wondered what scope you would have on top to wring every ounce of performance from it . . . wouldnt have guessed a straight 6 power . . . would be a very nice traditional rifle setup to use tho.

i would seriously consider a SFP as the better choice for what your trying to achieve @Flyblown . . . FFP are a pain for close in work when on the lower powers

but any scope that gets you out there doing it is a good choice . . . good luck

R.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 10-Ring

After using many .22 LR rifles for over 50 years and having had many different scope configurations from junk, to Zeiss Diatal, I've finally settled on a Leupold FXII 6x34 to use on my Anschutz 54 (1422). It's not inexpensive at around $600 but is light and doesn't give any trouble. I changed the fixed parallax from 150m to 50m and can easily head shoot rabbits up to 100m or more with a rest, good ammo and reasonably calm conditions.

Gave up on the Xmas tree reticles and vari-power scopes and also the adjustable objective scopes. Too much weight and mucking around.

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That's great. I too like fixed power scopes and always thought that 6 power is about right for a .22. However none have parallax set at 50m, so I got a Nikon Prostaff rimfire fixed 4 power. Parallax is set at 45 yards on it. Nice scope but not quite enough power. I was not aware that one could adjust parallax but have just googled it and seems straight forward enough.
Thanks for the food for thought.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dama dama

.... I was not aware that one could adjust parallax but have just googled it and seems straight forward enough.....

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It's only possible to do on certain fixed power scopes. Leupold is one brand that's quite easy to do. I bought a Boa Strap Lid Remover 100mm Strap Wrench ($21 from Bunnings) to remove the objective ring, that is the part forward of the gold ring, as it makes the job easy. You then just turn the exposed threaded section by hand a small part at a time until you get the parallax for the distance you want. Anti-clockwise to shorten the parallax.

I have an Athlon Ares 4.5-27x50 on my rimfire. FFP, mil so it closely replicates what I'm using on my long range hunting and steel rifles.

To me it makes sense to spend good money on a quality scope for a rifle like this. The ammo is cheap compared to centrefire so you can put in plenty of practice/have a lot of fun for not much cost. Also an almost indefinite barrel life with a 22LR. So building familiarity using a similar (or identical) scope is the way to go

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